April 15 & 17 - Anutz Lake (#17&18)

Bill and I went for two morning paddles on Anutz Lake. We were camped there for four nights and visited Little Hosun Caves and took a day trip to Alert Bay. The lake was windy at times (especially in the afternoon) but we managed to find some low wind windows! The part of Atluck Creek that goes to Nimpkish Lake was neat and it was very lumpy in Nimpkish Lake (hence the turnaround!). We saw loons, mergansers, buffleheads and bald eagles as well as Pacific wrens, robins and varied thrushes on shore. It was a lovely lake to paddle around!

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12 km combined (*+4), YTD 178 km

April 6 - Telegraph Cove/Bay to Margaret Bay (#16)

I led a SISKA relaxed paddle from Telegraph Cove/Bay to Margaret Bay along the Gordon head coastline. We were 12 paddlers and enjoyed a nice shoreline paddle. We had occasional showers and very little wind, though there was a 1ft confused sea which made for lumpy water in places. I noted 10 bird species (https://ebird.org/checklist/S223541672) along the way - the white-winged scoter was the most unusual for me. The beach in Margaret Bay was a bit sloppy so we had lunch in Vantreight Cove. We finished early and 9 of us were able to join up for coffee at Moka House after.

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10 km, YTD 166 km

April 5th - Cadboro Point (#15)

Jennie and I went out for a short morning paddle to check out the kayak she wants to buy - A Norse Isun - and we went out to Cadboro Point and back. We saw Yves and Patti and Julie about to launch out of Maynard Cove and had a nice catch up chat while Jennie tested the kayak out - looks like a nice kayak! We saw a nice selection of the usual birds: yellowlegs, bufflehead, goldeneye, hooded merganser, harlequin duck and glaucous-winged gull.

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6km, YTD 156 km

April 2nd - Discovery Island (#14)

I organized a "Wednesday Group" paddle out to the islands and we (12 of us) had a great day on the water. there was a strong ebb running in the morning so we decided to head south from Cadboro Point to take advantage of the current. The grey section in the track is where we were going over 10 kph! There was a bit of lumpy water in Baynes, but not too bad. There were a lot of black oystercatchers around - I saw over 60 during the paddle! The usual Steller sea lions were on the rock off Seabird Point. We stopped for lunch in Rudlin Bay and then had coffee at Moka House after.

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17 km, YTD 150km